(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an inline transfer system and method, and more particularly to an inline transfer system and method for processing glass substrates.
(b) Description of Related Art
In general, a transfer system operates to move a transfer body by placing the transfer body onto a conveyor and sliding the conveyor using an operating roller connected to an operating motor. The conventional conveyor system uses a motor for power to move a body and a chain, a gear, or a belt for the purpose of power transfer.
The transfer system can be utilized to transfer glass substrates in manufacturing liquid crystal displays (“LCDs”) in one example. An LCD is one of the most popular flat panel displays, which includes two panels provided with two kinds of electrodes generating an electric field and a liquid crystal layer interposed therebetween. The LCD displays images by controlling light transmittance, and the control of the light transmittance is performed by applying voltages to the electrodes to generate electric fields which change the arrangement of liquid crystal molecules.
The two panels of an LCD are transferred to the processing device of each manufacturing process using the transfer system to complete an LCD.
Conventionally, a plurality of glass substrates is transferred to the processing device of each manufacturing process using a cassette, a stocker, and an indexer. In other words, the transfer system for a LCD manufacturing process receives a plurality of glass substrates to the cassette, stores them in the stocker, and carries them in and out to the processing device of each manufacturing process using a robot indexer.
However, as glass substrates are increasing in size, a transfer system using the cassette, stocker, and indexer becomes more difficult to use because a typical cassette, stocker, or indexer transfers a plurality of glass substrates, and thus an existing cassette, stocker, or indexer must be made larger to transfer substrates of a larger size. Furthermore, several disadvantages occur in a typical transfer system with larger glass substrates, such as inefficiency, lower yield due to breaks and contamination, and lack of flexibility. Thus, there is a need in the art for an efficient and flexible system and method for processing substrates.